Auradin
An Auradin is a Paladin build in Diablo II. It uses mostly Offensive Auras to damage the opponent. The idea of an Auradin is to stack his auras in order to get the full effect of the damage caused. An Auradin is not always a frontline fighter. He evades his attacker by running or teleporting away with the right equipment, and he lets his auras do the work. But they can do a high amount of damage while hitting, due to their auras providing elemental damage to their attacks. There are several types of Auradins: Tesladin The Tesladin is a Paladin build, using the Holy Shock aura. Back-up attacks are Zeal and Holy Freeze. Skill Point Distribution Max: * Holy Shock (+ synergies: Salvation, Resist Lightning) * Holy Freeze Four points into: * Zeal One point into: * 1-point-wonders Stacker Build Auradin Max: *Salvation *Resist Lightning *Resist Fire Holy Fire Auradin (AKA Dragon paladin) This Auradin is a Paladin build maximizing the use of the Holy Fire aura. It is capable of excellent damage capabilities until Hell Difficulty, where the damage drops off significantly - despite having the most synergy items of all the damaging auras (weapon, armor, shield), it will still do the least damage of any type of auradin. Skill Point Distribution The main aura will be Conviction, to break immunities and resistance to fire, The damage from Holy Fire aura gained from items will be more than a twenty point investment. Max: *Resist Fire (Even though you get your aura from items, it will still work as a Synergy to the Holy Fire) *Holy Shield (Self explanatory, all Paladins use this) *Salvation (Like Resist, it is a Synergy) *Conviction (Explained above) Other Points: *Zeal: 1 Point Only: (This will be your main attack, you only need 1 point because your gear will give you enough points plus you get TONS of damage from your Holy Fire) *Sacrifice: 1 Point: (Pre-req) *Smite: 1 Point: (Pre-req) *Holy Bolt: 1 Point: (Pre-req) *Blessed Hammer: 1 Point: (Pre-req) *Charge: 1 Point: (Pre-req / Now this can be used in place of Zeal and is very usefully in duels, so do not pass this buy) *Might: 1 Point: (Pre-req) *Holy Fire: 1 POINT ONLY- (Pre-req) *Holy Freeze: 1 Point: (Pre-req) *Sanctuary: 1 Point: (Pre-req) *Thorns: 1 Point: (Pre-req) - All in all, that is 91 Skill Points. So make sure you don't waste your points, you have very little wiggle room. Stat Point Distribution *Strength: Enough for Equipment, no more *Dexterity: Enough to have maximum block (75%), and more if you still need some for gear *Vitality: Rest of Stat points, so pretty much all *Energy: Not recommended. Equipment *Helmet: (AKA "Shako" online) is your best bet. If you are low on res, you could put an rune in it. *Weapon: is what is needed. It will give you some of the Holy Fire, which will stack with your shield and armor. *Shield: (Shield Version) is the second of the three items that will give you your Holy Fire. *Armor: (Armor Version) is the final item that will give you your aura. *Belt: Arachnid Mesh is probably your best bet, but verdungo's will work as well. *Gloves: Dracul's Grasp or Soul Drainer or Magefists are good options but this isn't a big deal, The above mentioned is more important. *Boots: Sandstorm Trek boots are the best option because they're standard paladin gear *Rings: Bul-Kathos' Wedding Band and Raven Frost. Bul for the 1 to All Skills and the increased stamina, since you cannot teleport, and Raven so you won't be frozen. *Amulet: or The Rising Sun will work as well, rising sun for the + to fire skills, and the mara's for the + resist and + attributes *Weapon/Shield Flip: and Shield. *Charms: Hellfire Torch and Annihilus. Mercenary This is completely up to you. A Rogue Archer using Frost Arrow, with a , Bow, and maybe a helm might be a good choice, but this is all up to you. Note: In Difficulty, you will not be able to break the fire immunity of all enemies you encounter. If you can afford an auradin, you can afford Grief - for almost every situation it will deal more damage than HoJ, and pulsed fire damage is too low to kill anything anyway. Omnidin Omnidin is a versatile Paladin build primarily using Runeword equipment to project multiple elemental auras around the character, hirelings, and party members. The goal of this build is to simultaneously stack Holy Fire, Holy Freeze, Holy Shock, Defiance, and Redemption all as passive skills. This gives the option for the Paladin to use Fanaticism almost exclusively and switch auras only if the situation demands. Aura options are Salvation for improved resists and Conviction to nerf monster resists, but otherwise Fanaticism should be your primary. This build is not skill nor attribute intensive though does require higher level characters to procure and equip the required gear. Putting a few points into Holy Freeze is advisable. Use Freeze early on to slow monsters until Fanaticism or gear can replace it. The greatest benefit of the Omnidin is its ability to merge well with other popular builds including Zealot, Avenger, and Smiter. Stats *Strength : Only enough to equip items. *Dexterity : Only enough to improve block to 75%. *Vitality : As much as possible. *Energy : Few to none. Skills While you may choose most any accompanying skills you wish, here are a few staples to consider: *Zeal or Vengeance : For melee attack ability. Smite or Charge can also be used. *Blessed Hammer and/or : For magical attack ability. *Holy Shield : To level 20. No Paladin is complete without it. *Fanaticism : This will be your "always on" aura used in most situations. *Conviction : For breaking Immunes and those diehard monsters in Hell. *Salvation : For when you want to be the Diehard Monster in Hell. *Sacrifice and Defiance : Purely for their respective synergies with Zeal and Holy Shield. Equipment This is the bread and butter of this endeavor. You'll note the high level requirements for much of this gear so be prepared to use lower levels finding your personal play style which can then be augmented with this build. *Helm: Bone Visage or Diadem. Holy Shock Aura 15. *Amulet: Highlord's Wrath or if preferred. *Weapon: Berserker Axe. Holy Freeze Aura 12. *Armor: Archon Plate. Holy Fire Aura 14. *Shield - Ethereal Zakarum shield. +2 Offensive Auras, Defiance Aura 14. *Gloves - Soul Drainer or Laying of Hands. Can substitute Dracul's Grasp if unable to obtain Exile. *Ring1 - Raven Frost: For 'Cannot be Frozen' attribute. *Belt - or Verdungo's Hearty Cord. Could also substitute Arachnid Mesh, if skill bonus is more important *Ring2 - Bul-Kathos' Wedding Band Can substitute Stone of Jordan for mana based bonuses or Carrion Wind for neat procs. *Boots - Gore Rider War Boots (47): War Traveler or Sandstorm Trek work well also. Hirelings Mercenary (Rogue / Iron Wolf) *Helm: (63): Ethereal Bone Visage, +2 all Skills. *Bow: Crusader Bow, Holy Freeze Aura 18. (Rogue Only) *Sword: Phase Blade, Redemption Aura 14. (Iron Wolf Only) *Armor: or Ethereal Sacred Armor. could be substituted until Fortitude or CoH is obtained. *Shield: Monarch Shield +2 all Skills, FCR, Resists. (Iron Wolf Only) Mercenary (Desert Merc / Barbarian) *Helm: : Ethereal Bone Visage. Resist all +20. Holy Shock Aura 15. *Weapon: Redemption Aura 14 (passive merc healing). Reaper's Toll or Infinity Rune Word can also be a viable substitute. *Armor: or Ethereal Sacred Armor. could be substituted until Fortitude or CoH is obtained. End Result *Up to 6 active Auras in use at once: Fire, Cold, Lightning, Def+, Atk+, Dmg+, Atk Spd+. *Up to 100+ multi-elemental area damage per tick. *Over 500 added elemental damage to attacks on average. *Hits provide 13%+ Life Leech and chance for Volcano, Life Tap (lvl5 and 10), Hydra, and Firestorm. *Being struck provides chance of Venom, Confuse, and Fist of the Heavens. *+8 to all Skills, +2 additional to Offensive Auras, +30-80 to each Stat. *62% Deadly Strike, 15% Crushing Blow, 60% Open Wounds, Prevent Monster Heal, Freeze Target *All resists +72 or better, +127 to Lightning Resist. Cannot be Frozen, Cold and Lightning Absorb.